Pretty Neighborly
by dreamlit-daedalist
Summary: Cress is terrified of all the surprises of moving into a new apartment building. Some worse than others. ((Based off this prompt: "this is totally awkward considering before this the only interactions we've ever had have been casual nods to each other in the hallway but there's a huge fucking spider in my bath tub and you seem like the friendly neighbor type please help me"))


**Author's Note(s):** Another copy-and-paste from Tumblr! :'D I'm pretty happy with this one; despite its corny shortcomings. Wolf/Cress friendship is very canon and dear to my heart. There's also some Wolf/Scarlet if you squint... or Wolf/happiness if that's not your thing

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Tap.

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T-

A door slammed in the hallway above her.

Cress's fingers froze for a moment, before resuming their frantic rhythm against the pane of the door.

It was a quirk that came up sometimes, when she was too nervous to sink her hands in her hair. A tune would come up in her mind, and she'd take her anxiety out with it in her hands, tapping along until she could figure out a solution to her problem. At the moment it was the music of an Italian opera that she'd seen a few days ago. She didn't know the words, just the pattern of the notes bursting through her fingertips.

She had no idea how long she'd been tapping away, but every sound in the building shook her straight back into overwhelming fear, and what she planned to do.

She had no idea what to do.

Go to the manager? That was unlikely. Sybil didn't seem like an empathetic woman, much less about something that would be so trivial to her.  
She could practically hear her now, "Crescent, my job as a manager is to ensure that every occupant in this building has no pressing concerns, not to fill in as a substitute for an exterminator." She could care less about a spider.

Even if it was a _HUGE, absolutely horrific-looking_ spider.

Cress trembled in revulsion, pulling the edges of her bathrobe closer.

As big as her hand, and covered in what looked like dark fur.

She wasn't usually afraid of bugs, but this one had caught her completely by surprise; dropping out of nowhere as she filled her bathtub.

It was like a scene out of a cheesy horror film; the way she'd screamed and run for the door. Now she was standing out here, in her bathrobe and with hair spilling out everywhere, with no idea what to do.

Maybe she could try a neighbor's door. It was the last thing she wanted, but anyone was better to face than the apartment manager.

She scanned the doors in the hall, unsure of which to choose.

Was 341 Jina or Ms. Adri? She couldn't remember. There weren't many people she knew, and even more that she was too scared to. Being relatively new, after all, (a little over two months in) didn't give her enough time to pass judgement on her neighbors. It was hard making friends, even harder when they made it difficult to.

Jina was nice enough, but if it was Adri -

Footsteps sounded down the stairs, and Cress shrunk against the door, her anxiety mounting up all over again. Someone was going to come down and see her here and then ask what she was doing, and if they were intimidating enough she wouldn't answer and -

A large body came into view, and the pressure in her shoulders began to bubble down.  
She was full of something else now. It wasn't exactly intimidation, at least not anymore. Shyness felt more fitting. When his head angled towards her she stared at her fingers, watching as they brushed against the door.

Ze'ev's eyes skimmed in her general direction. She couldn't tell if he was staring at her or at the space around her, but by then he had seemed to register his intense staring, and paused in his stride.

His pause was just what Cress needed. She was faced with a decision now. She could either A) Pretend she was deliberately hanging out here for a good reason, or B) Suck it up and ask for help.

If it had been earlier this year, option A would've been almost instinctual. She would have turned a bit back towards her door, effectively shutting off chance of potential communication. But now, meeting his curious gaze, Cress decided that he was no longer someone to avoid.

Maybe it was just her, but she'd noticed a change in his atmosphere. His menacing aura no longer seemed so menacing, there was this tender look in his eyes sometimes, a look that smoothed down the rugged exterior; bringing the hint of a smile to his face and making her think something in him had changed. Something made him seem …. softer. He looked less like an animal ready to fight and more like an overbearing teddy bear. Sort of. He'd gone from ignoring her in the hall to exchanging casual nods. She figured that was progress.

So, he wasn't exactly the friendly neighbor type but Cress was out of options. And he had taken the moment to notice her, so that counted for something, right?

She decided to just go ahead and confess.

"I - um," she stuttered, "I have a little dilemma."

He didn't respond, but looked interested enough so she plunged on.

"There's this - awfully humongous spider in my bath, and usually I'm good at handling these sort of situations but - I swear this is the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life and I'm terrified and you probably think I'm ridiculous but -"

"No."

She froze again. He was looking pretty serious, but she couldn't tell what he meant by it.

"No, I don't think you're ridiculous. You're from up north, you're probably not used to so much …. wildlife."

Cress could feel herself nodding frantically.

"I could - I can help you." He sounded hesitant, but she nodded again.

"Oh god okay yes, um," She swiveled to the door to swing it open. "please go ahead."

As he trailed inside, she hurried close by to lead him to the bathroom, and when she reached the doorway, gestured him through.

For the next few moments she held her breath, praying that the spider hadn't disappeared and that he'd get through with it quickly.

Then came the sound of a CLUNK, and the tear of toilet paper before he appeared again, holding a plastic cup with the paper held tight over it.

She rushed backward and watched as he left her apartment to who knew where.

She was piling out cleaning supplies (because no way was she taking a bath with the thought of whatever that thing might have left behind) when he returned, hands empty.

There was an awkward pause, before she said, "Thanks for your help." while staring at his arm, a little too embarrassed to reach his line of sight.

"No problem. I should - I should go now. Enjoy your bath." She nodded and turned back to her supplies.

"Cress?"

Swiveling her head in surprise (she didn't realize he even knew her name), she felt her eyes widen at the small smile on his face. She'd seen him smile before of course, (at whatever/ whoever he was thinking about) but this time it was directed at her, tiny and faint, but it softened his face and made him look … pretty neighborly.

"If you need anything, just let me know."

With that, he left, and Cress's own lips curled up in response.

Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to make a friend here.


End file.
